Last Night the Rain Spoke to Me (by Mary Oliver) Last night the rain spoke to me slowly, saying, what joy to come falling out of the brisk cloud, to be happy again in a new way on the earth! That’s what it said as it dropped, smelling of iron, and vanished like a dream of …
Morning Poem (by Billy Collins) Why do we bother with the rest of the day, the swale of the afternoon, the sudden dip into evening, then night with his notorious perfumes, his many-pointed stars? This is the best— throwing off the light covers, feet on the cold floor, and buzzing around the house on espresso— …
Lines written in the days of growing darkness (by Mary Oliver) Every year we have been witness to it: how the world descends into a rich mash, in order that it may resume. And therefore who would cry out to the petals on the ground to stay, knowing, as we must, how the vivacity of …
I’m reading ‘Underground Railway’ by Colston Whitehead, which is remarkable and chilling, frankly, especially in light of recent events… …will the world ever learn? Caged birds by Maya Angelou A free bird leaps on the back of the wind and floats downstream till the current ends and dips his wing in the orange sun …
The light gatherer (by Carol Ann Duffy) When you were small, your cupped palms each held a candleworth under the skin, enough light to begin, and as you grew, light gathered in you, two clear raindrops in your eyes, warm pearls, shy, in the lobes of your ears, even always the light of a smile …
A life in Dreams (by Jacob Sam-La Rose) There have been teeth falling loose from their sockets like a shower of petals or bones. There has been treacle; attempts to run against a gravity wound so tight tight single steps were futile, a travelling nowhere, a running on the spot, a fanged leer and a gnarled …
The best time of the day (by Raymond Carver) Cool summer nights. Windows open. Lamps burning. Fruit in the bowl. And your head on my shoulder. These the happiest moments in the day. Next to the early morning hours, of course. And the time just before lunch. And the afternoon, and early evening hours. But …
Invictus (by William Ernest Henley) Out of the night which covers me, Black as the pit from pole to pole, I thank whatever gods may be For my unconquerable soul. In the fell clutch of circumstance I have not winced nor cried aloud. Under the bludgeoning of chance My head is bloody, but unbowed. Beyond …
I know my soul (by Claude McKay) I plucked my soul out of its secret place, And held it to the mirror of my eye, To see it like a star against the sky, A twitching body quivering in space, A spark of passion shining on my face. And I explored it to determine why …
The weather has been incredible this weekend… The Sun (by Mary Oliver) Have you ever seen anything in your life more wonderful than the way the sun, every evening, relaxed and easy, floats toward the horizon and into the clouds or the hills, or the rumpled sea, and is gone– and how it slides …
while you're ahead... 